Special education in the United Kingdom

Special education in the United Kingdom, being an aspect of education, is a devolved matter with each of the countries of the United Kingdom having separate systems under separate governments: the UK Government is responsible for education in England, the Scottish Government is responsible for education in Scotland,^[1] the Welsh Assembly Government is responsible for education in Wales^[2] and the Northern Ireland Executive is responsible for education in Northern Ireland.

Special Educational Needs (SEN) in England

The term "special educational needs" covers children who face barriers in their ability to learn, including dyslexia, dyspraxia, autism, Asperger syndrome and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder,(ADHD). However the term also refers to children with moderate learning disabilities and physical disabilities (such as hearing, motor and visual disabilities).^[3] Children who face barriers to their learning will often require different levels of educational intervention to support their learning. This may consist in what is commonly referred to as Wave 2 or Wave 3 intervention. Wave 2 intervention consists of time limited support for a child with special educational needs, focussing on a particular area of difficulty. This support is provided, within the classroom, with the view to accelerate progress and address misconceptions that may have developed. Wave 3 intervention consists of more individualised support designed specifically for an individual child, again, with the view to accelerate progress. Some children with special educational needs will have a 'statement' outlining their individual needs and the specific provision needed. Getting a statement involves going through a statuatory assessment of a childs' individual needs and ascertaining the exact amount of hours of support that child is entitled to by law. This amount of hours of support must then be provided by the school but will often be funded by the local authority. The number of children eligible for statements is dependent on the location, with some boroughs only giving statements to the 0.5 percentile.^[4] In most cases such children will be educated within the same school as their non-SEN peers, but supported by an SEN Department within the school staffed by Teaching Assistants and organised by a Special Educational Needs Coordinator, or SENCO. In supporting children with Special Educational Needs schools and the Local Education Authority have to take account of the SEN Code of Practice^[5]. Each school has its own SEN Policy, which details how the school implements the Code.

Figures published in 2009 showed that 17.8% of pupils in English schools have special educational needs (SEN), a proportion that has steadily grown over the last four years, from 14.9% in 2005.^[3]

The previous year, in January 2008, the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) stated that some 223,600 (or 2.8 per cent) of pupils across all schools in England had statements of SEN. The percentage of pupils with statements of SEN placed in mainstream schools (nursery, primary, secondary) was 56.6 per cent. The corresponding figures for the proportion of pupils with statements of SEN placed in maintained special schools was 36.9 per cent, with 3.6 per cent in independent schools.

In 2008 there were some 1,390,700 pupils with SEN without statements representing 17.2 per cent of pupils across all schools. This is an increase from 16.4 per cent from a year earlier. Contrary to the pattern for pupils with statements of SEN, the incidence of pupils with SEN without statements is greater in primary schools (18.1 per cent) than in secondary schools (17.8 per cent).^[6]

Procedures for special educational needs (SEN)

The procedures for SEN in England (and Wales) were set in the Education Act 1996 (Part 4)^[7] The definition of SEN was amended in the Special Educational Needs and Disability Bill of 2001.^[8]

Support for dyslexia

In the English law case of Skipper v Calderdale Metropolitan Borough School (2006) EWCA Civ 238, the Court of Appeal applied Phelps v London Borough of Hillingdon (2001) 2 AC 619 as the landmark case on the failure to diagnose dyslexia, in accordance with duty of care in English law, and to hold that the appellant could pursue her claim against her school for humiliation, lost confidence, lost self-esteem, and for loss of earnings following its failing to diagnose and treat her dyslexia.

In England and Wales, the failure of schools to diagnose and provide remedial help for dyslexia following the House of Lords decision in the case of Pamela Phelps has created an entitlement for students with dyslexia in Higher education to receive support funded via the Disabled Students Allowance.

Additional Support Needs (ASN) in Scotland

In passing the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004, the Scottish Parliament redefined the law in Scotland relating to the provision of special education to children with additional needs by establishing a framework for the policies of inclusion and generally practicing the "presumption of mainstreaming" in Scottish education. The Act is an attempt to broaden the narrow definition of Special Educational Needs (SEN) which has typically been used to define children with special needs.

See also

• Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004
• Learning disabilities in special education
• Learning theory (education)
• Special education
• Special education in the United States
• Dyslexia support in the United Kingdom

References

External links

• SEN on the DCSF website
• Index of articles about Special Educational Needs on knol
• The Council for the Registration of Schools Teaching Dyslexic Pupils